Recent Jump in Federal Weapons Prosecutions

Figure 1. Number of Federal Weapons Prosecutions Filed

The latest available data from the Justice Department reveal a substantial jump in the number of federal weapons prosecutions during March and April 2013. For the first two months of this calendar year these counts had hovered around 500, down from the average level of 648 during the last fiscal year. But in March they rebounded to 673 prosecutions — up 30.7 percent. In April they rose another 3.6 percent to 697. See Figure 1.

The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with weapons-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. See TRAC's earlier report for longer term trends.

Questions about the intensity of weapons enforcement have long been an issue in the national debate over proposals to strengthen federal gun laws. In February for example, at the height of this year's debate in the Senate, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre cited the Justice Department enforcement data presented by TRAC in arguing that instead of new laws "[w]e need to enforce the thousands of gun laws currently on the books."

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

During the first seven months of FY 2013, the Southern District of Alabama (Mobile) ranked first in the country in terms of its rate of federal weapons prosecutions. Relative to its population, this U.S. Attorney's office was more than four times more active than the national average, with 114 prosecutions as compared with 23 prosecutions per one million people in the United States as a whole. The Western District of Tennessee (Memphis) was in second place.

In terms of the sheer numbers rather than rates, the Western District of Missouri (Kansas City) has prosecuted 151 defendants for weapons offenses — the highest number in the nation. It was in third place if the size of its population was also taken into account.

Recent entries to the top 10 list of federal weapon prosecutions per capita were the Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro) and Washington, D.C., now ranked sixth and ninth, respectively. See Table 1 for rest of the ten most active districts.

Judicial District

Percapita

Count

Rank

1yr ago

5yrs ago

10yrs ago

20yrs ago

Ala, S

114

55

1

1

3

7

4

Tenn, W

107

97

2

3

1

4

31

Mo, W

84

151

3

8

11

8

50

Kansas

79

130

4

2

29

44

54

N Mexico

73

85

5

4

37

49

14

N Car, M

65

105

6

11

14

26

15

N Car, E

60

128

7

10

10

11

20

Ga, S

60

51

8

6

4

21

37

D. C.

57

20

9

78

53

1

1

Ill, S

57

42

10

7

43

22

36

Table 1. Top 10 districts (per one million people)

Figure 2. Prosecutions by Investigative Agency

Leading Investigative Agencies

The lead investigative agency for weapons prosecutions through April 2013
was "Justice - Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" accounting for 71.3 percent of prosecutions referred.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of weapons matters
filed in U.S. District Court during the first seven months of FY 2013.
Note: There were an additional 76 other lead charges which were not individually ranked.

Lead Charge

Count

Rank

1 yr ago

5 yrs ago

10 yrs ago

20 yrs ago

18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts

3,378

1

1

1

1

1

18 USC 924 - Firearms; Penalties

202

2

2

2

2

2

18 USC 1951 - Hobbs Act

115

3

3

4

6

9

21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A

101

4

4

3

3

3

26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts

80

5

6

5

4

6

21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy

75

6

7

6

5

4

18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States

31

7

5

23

-

-

18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US

27

8

8

7

8

7

22 USC 2778 - Control of arms exports and imports

17

9

10

11

12

10

18 USC 2113 - Bank robbery and incidental crimes

16

10

12

8

7

5

Table 2. Top Charges Filed

"Firearms; Unlawful acts" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was the 1st most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked 1st ten years ago and 1st twenty years ago.

Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Firearms; Penalties" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 924.
Title 18 U.S.C Section 924 was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was the 2nd most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked 2nd ten years ago and 2nd twenty years ago.

Ranked 3rd was "Hobbs Act" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951.
Title 18 U.S.C Section 1951 was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was the 4th most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked 6th ten years ago and 9th twenty years ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest
projected increase in prosecutions — up 44.4 percent — compared to one year ago was
Title 18 U.S.C Section 2113
that involves "Bank robbery and incidental crimes ".
This was the same statute that had the largest projected increase — 1229 percent — when compared with five years ago.

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest
projected decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 59.8 percent — was
"Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).
This was the same statute that had the largest projected decrease — 52.7 percent — when compared with five years ago.